Nutrition Data for the UK

[helvella]

In the past, when I have wanted general nutritional information about food, I have often ended up on non-UK sites. More recently, though, I have found this site which is pretty useful. Makes far more sense to use data for the products we actually get here.

With many discussions about nutrients in relation to thyroid disorders, it is useful to have a relevant information source to hand.

Food Databanks National Capability extended dataset based on PHE's McCance and Widdowson's Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset

Search the nutrient composition of the 3,200 most commonly eaten foods and recipes dishes in the UK

The dataset is presented in this website for general interest and quick searches. If you need to make more detailed searches and reports, please use the full dataset.

Where have these values come from?

The nutrient values come from the UK food composition tables (McCance and Widdowson’s The Composition of Foods), a dataset containing the nutrient content of the UK food supply that is managed and maintained by Food Databanks National Capability, Quadram Institute. Public Health England carries out ongoing nutrient analysis surveys to provide up-to-date information on food; the results of these surveys are incorporated into the dataset. The dataset has a variety of different users, including Public Health England’s National Diet and Nutrition Survey.

History of food composition data in the UK

Nutrient data were collected by Captain Pilmmer in the First World War to help with the nutrition of soldiers and for rationing purposes. In 1925, Robert McCance, a medical student interested in diabetics at King’s College Hospital, received a grant to analyse available carbohydrates in fruit and vegetables. Pilmmer’s data only included carbohydrates by difference and did not distinguish between available and unavailable carbohydrate. McCance later worked with Elsie Widdowson, which lead to the first edition of The Composition of Foods book, published in 1940. To date, seven summary editions, ten supplements and two versions of the online dataset have been published.

quadram.ac.uk/UKfoodcomposi...

[DippyDame]

Great post helvella

Gosh, McCance and Widdowson, that's a blast from the past, or so I thought.I had no idea their work is still being used.

I see the 2014 edition is available for £50.99.

I've just dug out my old copy of The Manual of Nutrition (HMSO 1961 edition,) based on The Composition of Foods. In the forward is written, "It (the book) has been found valuable by those who realise that an understanding of the scientific basis of good feeding should be part of the everyday knowledge of an educated community".

They might have added " and a healthy community".

I often think that today the understanding of the science, and therefore it's importance, has been lost from " feeding"!